Festive Fifty Number Ones
Related article: Festive Fifty: An Introduction Background The following is a chronological list, compiled as a ready reference, of the tracks that made number one in the Festive Fifty chart hosted by Peel between 1976-2003, by Radio 1 in 2004 and 2005, and by Dandelion Radio from 2006 to date. Note that since the rules of the chart were changed in 1983 to include only material from the current year, only one previous number one has re-entered (and that solely because of the All-Time 2000 Festive Fifty). If all charts up to the present day are taken into account, it means that the Fall, Sex Pistols and Joy Division tie for first place regarding number of top placed acts, with three apiece in their own right. However, Mark E. Smith has performed on three with the Fall and one with the Inspiral Carpets and, being members of both Joy Division and New Order, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris have all performed together on five of the number one tracks. Many thanks to Steve W. for pointing out this omission. Five artists have hit number one on more than one occasion. The longest gap between number one songs (and bands) is that of Joy Division's 'Atmosphere', which was at pole position in 2000 nineteen years after its last success. However, Mark Whitby considers that all-time chart properly to belong to 1999, since it was compiled in tandem with the yearly chart of that year and held over to January because of time considerations, or inability to locate all the records in time, according to Peel. Even allowing for this, it still beats the next contender, the Fall (14 years), by some distance, and in any case, the latter did not achieve this with the same song. The closest-run contests were 1989 (Peel stated that merely six points covered the top three acts), 1990 (a "semi-spoiled ballot" prevented My Bloody Valentine from winning), 1992 (a tie, resolved by counting the largest number of favourite track of the year votes) and 2003, where Cinerama made it to the top by merely one vote. Only two acts have held down the top two positions in the same chart: Jesus & Mary Chain (1985) and Pulp (1995). PJ Harvey could be considered the unluckiest of all acts, having made number two three times (including twice in consecutive years) without making number one (although this 'dry' spell ended in 2011). No Peel Session track has ever made the top of the chart: the nearest miss was by the Fall in 1987, when 'Australians In Europe' made number two. The Festive Fifty Number Ones Radio 1: The Peel Era *'1976': Led Zeppelin, 'Stairway To Heaven' *'1977': Motors, 'Dancing The Night Away' *'1978': Sex Pistols, 'Anarchy In The U.K.' *'1979': Sex Pistols, 'Anarchy In The U.K.' *'1980': Sex Pistols, 'Anarchy In The U.K.' *'1981': Joy Division, 'Atmosphere' *'1982': Sex Pistols, 'Anarchy In The U.K.' (all-time chart) *'1982': New Order, 'Temptation' (yearly chart) *'1983': New Order, 'Blue Monday' *'1984': Smiths, 'How Soon Is Now' *'1985': Jesus & Mary Chain, 'Never Understand' *'1986': Smiths, 'There Is A Light That Will Never Go Out' *'1987': Sugarcubes, 'Birthday' *'1988': House Of Love, 'Destroy The Heart' *'1989': Sundays, 'Can't Be Sure' *'1990': Fall, 'Bill Is Dead' *'1991': Nirvana, 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' Not broadcast until 1993. *'1992': Bang Bang Machine, 'Geek Love' *'1993': Chumbawamba and Credit To The Nation, 'Enough Is Enough' *'1994': Inspiral Carpets ft. Mark E. Smith, 'I Want You' *'1995': Pulp, 'Common People' *'1996': Kenickie, 'Come Out 2Nite' *'1997': Cornershop, 'Brimful Of Asha' *'1998': Delgados, 'Pull The Wires From the Wall' *'1999': Cuban Boys, 'Cognoscenti vs Intelligentsia' *'2000': Joy Division, 'Atmosphere' (all-time chart) *'2000': Neko Case, 'Twist The Knife' (yearly chart) *'2001': Melys, 'Chinese Whispers' *'2002': Saloon, 'Girls Are The New Boys' *'2003': Cinerama, 'Don't Touch That Dial' Radio 1: Post-Peel *'2004': Fall, 'Theme From Sparta F.C. #2' *'2005': Jegsy Dodd & The Original Sinners, 'Grumpy Old Men' Dandelion Radio *'2006': Tall Pony, 'I'm Your Boyfriend Now' *'2007': Battles, 'Atlas' *'2008': Fall, '50 Year-Old Man' *'2009': Los Campesinos!, 'There Are Listed Buildings' *'2010': Standard Fare, 'Philadelphia' *'2011': PJ Harvey, 'Let England Shake' *'2012': Savages, 'Husbands' *'2013':' 'Wedding Present, 'Two Bridges'' ' * 2014: Cuban Boys, 'The Nation Needs You (2014 Version)' * 2015: Girl Band, 'Paul' * [[2016 Festive Fifty|'2016']]: David Bowie, 'Blackstar' * [[2017 Festive Fifty|'2017']]: Paul Rooney, 'Lost High Street' * 2018: Idles, 'Danny Nedelko' * 2019: Astro-B, 'Hellow I Love U' Links *Festive Fifty: An Introduction. Explanation for those unfamiliar with this chart's history. *Dandelion Radio. Festive Fifty listings for all charts. *Festive Fifty Illustrated. Blog by Lee Thacker detailing the process involved in writing and illustrating a book on this very subject. ;Footnotes Category:Lists Category:Festive Fifty